It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but nonetheless, the Celtics improved to 6-0 after eeking out a victory over Minnesota. If I was Minnesota I’d be type aggravated after that loss! I mean come on, Minnesota leads the whole way through while the Celtics struggle to do just enough to annoyingly stick around. All night Mike and Tommy were talking about how sometimes, being down by 5 can feel like 15. It was definitely one of those nights. Ryan Gomes, Al Jefferson and something called Oleksiy Pecherov had their way with the Celtics defense pretty much all night. Things weren’t looking so great on the other end either, with Eddie House chucking up air balls and Ray Allen missing open looks. At one point, Mike commented that the Celtics needed to find the guy with the hot hand. Tommy took a look at the stat sheet and realized that Kendrick Perkins, going 5 for 5 in the first quarter, was that guy. Clearly, it was going to be a long night (No offense, Perk! I’m really digging the offensive aggressiveness and vastly improved post moves! On a night where most of the rest of the team looked half alive, you put in some serious work against Big Al on both ends. Love you, you defensive beast!). Rondo showed up in the third quarter and dropped 14. Apparently the Wolves never got the memo that leaving Rondo wide open under the basket wouldn’t be an effective defensive technique. The Celtics defense kinda woke up a little bit too, going in to the fourth. Luckily, KG was wide awake when it mattered most, with 3.6 seconds left in the fourth, tying up Corey Brewer for a jump ball (controversial call? I think not). In continuing with a theme that I greatly enjoy, the bench played a huge role in getting the win. The bench came in, plus Paul Pierce, with the Celtics down eight and they cut it to four. It was not a great night for ‘Sheed, so I’ll take this time to rave about Shelden Williams and Marquis Daniels. Woooooooooo! They’re great.
First, Shelden: I think he’s really starting to understand the Celtics offensive and defensive schemes more. He’s rolling off picks and finding himself wide open under the basket. He’s there battling for every rebound on both ends of the floor. He’s not afraid to take a hit. Perk has become much better in the post, but it’s nice to have another big body knocking guys around down there, as opposed to someone like Glen Davis, who’s more comfortable further away from the basket. Speaking of Glen, I hope he’s figured out a way to take some notes with that broken thumb of his, because Shelden banging the boards and playing tough D is exactly how he’s going to steal minutes away from Baby (A brief side note: I miss Big Baby! His energy was sorely missed last night. Please, no more punching people).
And now, Marquis: *Swooooonnn!* I think Marquis is wonderful. Like Paul Pierce, it sometimes looks like he’s slower than everybody else, and then all the sudden he’s slashing in the paint laying it in at the rim, or he’s stepping back at 10 feet and burying a jumper. It’s not that he’s slow- it’s grace, agility and deceptive athletic ability… a.k.a. art in motion. Belee dat. He also has a great pair of hands, or mitts, as Tommy says. They come in handy on the defensive end, where you can find him picking off passes and jabbing the ball away. I think he plays really well with the second unit and he also meshes well with the starters. It’s kinda like Paul is Birdman and Quisy is Wayne… Except no. Not at all. I’ll have to come up with a better one than that. Maybe it’s more like Paul is Nas and Quisy is AZ, circa 1995. My friend says that nobody will know what I mean if I say that (please find out about it. It will greatly enhance your life), and that I should stick to normal pop culture references… Like Paul is Batman and Quisy is Robin. It would not be the first time someone attempted to come up with a nickname appropriate for Paul. Please reference the above video. It, too, will greatly enhance your life.
I don’t think that all of last nights less than inspiring play can be attributed to fatigue. I’m sure it’s a factor- just thinking about playing in Philadelphia, traveling to Minnesota, getting in at 2:30 AM, and then playing an 8:00 PM game against a young, fresh legged team makes me tired. I also think it was just an off night. As last night showed, it happens to the best of them. Finally, I do have to say that I really dig former SYRACUSE point guard Jonny Flynn (Go Orange!). I’ve been known to reference him as a Rondo in training, because they’re both undersized and speedy. I think he looked pretty great last night, quick as ever and lots of confidence in his performance. Go ‘head Jonny.
